Are white reflectors required on wheels

[Santa]

I’m all for safety, but a lot of the wheel/ spoke mounted reflectors are poorly made and many just break. As long as I have frame mounted reflectors ( red rear, amber side/ front and white front) are the white ones that that come on the wheel/ spoke required to be legal ? Thanks for your replies.

 

[Santa]

Maybe answer my win question. Look up the legal requirements for front,side, rear reflection. Side can be tires w/ reflective strip, rims with same or the spoke mounted type. I think I’ll look for some wheel adhesive type. Be nice if someone sold long specific strips instead of the small pieces. Any white reflective ( but flexible) adhesive tape out there ?

 

[Slaphappygamer]

You can use reflective vinyl. They typically come in sheets of 12”x12”. You can cut them to whatever size you need. I used some in my vinyl cutter and made stickers.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

Light and reflector requirements are likely to vary by state. California example:

All quite sensible. Note that tires with reflective sidewall stripes satisfy the wheel reflector requirement.

Moving pedal reflectors make a big visual impact. Unfortunately, really hard to find on the elogated (aka "wide") platform pedals I use and not easily added.

At night, I wear at least 1 reflective LED ankle band.

 

[Santa]

So I took the OEM reflectors off the wheels and installed the neat spoke reflectors on. Looks trick on every spoke/both sides and now has probably 4-5 times the capability of being seen from almost any angle.

 

[nutdriver]

I also removed the spoke reflectors on my bike. Definitely looks better without them and my Schwalbe Energizer Plus tires have sidewall reflectors that are very effective.

 

[6zfshdb]

I don't see a law in my state that requires spoke reflectors. Two of my bikes have mag wheels with no way to install them. The LBS where I bought them, installed tires with reflective side walls but I don't know if it's required by law.

 

[Extreme1]

I’m in CA and just got my Creo1 from the warehouse. It doesn’t have wheel reflectors and I put clip In pedals on, so no reflectors of any kind on the bike. The tires are solid black. I would have taken the reflectors off anyways. I won’t be riding it at night, so no biggie.

 

[spokewrench]

I don't see a law in my state that requires spoke reflectors. Two of my bikes have mag wheels with no way to install them. The LBS where I bought them, installed tires with reflective side walls but I don't know if it's required by law.

PA requires side reflectors after sundown. I guess reflective tires would do the trick.

 

[MartsEbike]

This thread prompted me to check UK laws - and I'm riding illegally!

No pedal reflectors on my bikes.

 

[Stefan Mikes]

This thread prompted me to check UK laws - and I'm riding illegally!

No pedal reflectors on my bikes.

The Polish law is very lenient. A bicycle needs to have operable front and rear lights (need to be used after the dark), a rear reflector, an operable brake, and a bell

Compared, Germany requires reflectors wherever imaginable, tyres with the reflective strip, reflectors on the pedals... I'm glad I do not live there!

 

[kevinmccune]

go to truck stop and get some DOT self adherent reflective tape,they have white and red dont know about amber.

 

[6zfshdb]

PA requires side reflectors after sundown. I guess reflective tires would do the trick.

Interesting. PA doesn't require those over 21 to wear a motorcycle helmet but you have to have reflectors on your bike. Go figure.

 

[nutdriver]

Here are the pertinent laws I could find for Colorado:

As to the minimum necessary equipment in order to legally ride at night, C.R.S. § 42-4-221 requires the following:

1. A white headlight on the front of your bike that is visible for at least 500 feet;
2. A red reflector on the back of your bike that is visible to low-beam car headlights from at least 600 feet away; and
3. Either reflectors on both sides of your bike that are visible to low-beam car headlights from a distance of 600 feet, or a lighted lamp visible from both sides from a distance of 500 feet.

 

[Jeremy McCreary]

This thread prompted me to check UK laws - and I'm riding illegally!

No pedal reflectors on my bikes.

In California, you can legally wear reflective ankle bands in lieu of pedal reflectors, but you have to do one or the other. Makes sense to me.

Also lost pedal reflectors when my SL got new pedals, and no good way to add them. So I went the velcro ankle band route. Way more visible than pedal reflectors — especially from the side. Also weigh nothing and take up very little space in my limited onboard storage.

Then I found inexpensive reflective LED slap bands on Amazon. Quite a light show at night! A little heavier and bulkier, but easy-on, easy-off with good coin battery life.

After the last night ride you posted, I'd say you should look into these solutions.

 

[nutdriver]

When reflectors are not enough.

https://www.getccled.com/

 

[MartsEbike]

In California, you can legally wear reflective ankle bands in lieu of pedal reflectors, but you have to do one or the other. Makes sense to me.

Also lost pedal reflectors when my SL got new pedals, and no good way to add them. So I went the velcro ankle band route. Way more visible than pedal reflectors — especially from the side. Also weigh nothing and take up very little space in my limited onboard storage.

Then I found inexpensive reflective LED slap bands on Amazon. Quite a light show at night! A little heavier and bulkier, but easy-on, easy-off with good coin battery life.

After the last night ride you posted, I'd say you should look into these solutions.

You're right Jeremy! On that night ride, I added extra front and rear lights for more visibility but the batteries died! I thought they had plenty of life left but was wrong. If I didn't have built-in lights to fall back on I would have been in big trouble.

 

[PedalUma]

You can buy 25 foot rolls of peal and stick DOT reflective tape. My yellow one ran out after four years. I need to get another. My new helmet with a bright head light on top that can flash is matt black. I want to get some reflective yellow stripes on it. In the US the Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that all bikes come with reflectors. It does not state that they need to be installed by a bike shop prior to sale. Just that they are offered. We are gearing up for my town's Third Annual Holiday Lighted Bike Parade. It is so much fun. We get a motorcycle police escort. This year we are touring the best decorated houses on the east side. It is Friday December 20th. The Police have enough on their plates with stuff like guns and drugs to not hassle people riding safely and visibly who are not in total compliance with the letter of local laws. A judge would toss out such a case.

 

[fooferdoggie]

You can buy 25 foot rolls of peal and stick DOT reflective tape. My yellow one ran out after four years. I need to get another. My new helmet with a bright head light on top that can flash is matt black. I want to get some reflective yellow stripes on it. In the US the Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that all bikes come with reflectors. It does not state that they need to be installed by a bike shop prior to sale. Just that they are offered. We are gearing up for my town's Third Annual Holiday Lighted Bike Parade. It is so much fun. We get a motorcycle police escort. This year we are touring the best decorated houses on the east side. It is Friday December 20th. The Police have enough on their plates with stuff like guns and drugs to not hassle people riding safely and visibly who are not in total compliance with the letter of local laws. A judge would toss out such a case.

The tape does not last on the spokes. it's a good place for it but it just does not work or I should say hold up. I even tried wrapping it around the spokes on the rims is fine but they can get dirty. there are no good wheel lights anymore.